Archive for September, 2010


No-More-War Seminar Albania looking for participants

Filed Under: Training by Georg — Leave a comment
September 29, 2010

Hey all, we made a call several weeks to the SCI networks and branches and have received already some applications – we have still a few more places :D

The seminar will take place from 24th to 29th in Durres, Albania.

We are still looking for two people each from Finland and Austria – and for one each from Switzerland, Germany and Spain. If you are from one if these countries and would like to apply – contact the Albanian host PVN directly at info@pvnalbania.org

If you are active in SCI but live in some other country and really would like to participate, get in contact with SCI Austria office@sci.or.at and they can check if it is possible for you to come as well.

Please download the application: NMW Application form Seminar Albania, fill them in and then send them to Ola at PVN Albania or to the SCI people in Austria via the above mail addresses.

Here again is the full ‘Call for participants’: NMW Call4participants

Can’t wait for it to start – we just had a team meeting in Amsterdam to adjust the programme and look at the progress / also to work on a short movie and clips about the no-more-war workcamps this year :) More on that in the coming weeks!

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Soldiers can resist the war-machine!

Filed Under: Antimilitarism, Nonviolence by Georg — Leave a comment
September 23, 2010

As a lot of you are aware, Service Civil International

has its name from trying to find and implement alternatives to military service – in many countries that is still problematic (you can find more informations about your country here) but even in countries where that is possible, once you enlisted in the army and later on realized the mistake you made, it is very hard to get out of it.

I stumbled upon someone having made that experience:

“Our unit did a lot of good things, giving schools books and bringing clothes to children,” he said. “These actions helped my conscience a bit, but I kept thinking to myself, ‘Had we not invaded, would these people need this aid now?’ ” Andre Shepherd

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How to discuss nonviolently in large groups?

Filed Under: Nonviolence by Georg — Leave a comment
September 20, 2010

Being citizen of a democratic country (well, Germany could also be considered a buerocrazy…) and sometimes having trainings and seminars in larger groups, the process of decision-making always intrigues me.

War-Resisters International – an organization fighting for the right to resist war and military service – published a guide on their webpage, which is very detailed and inspiring – even including some sign-language hints for easy communication in large groups!

Even more, they include nice little methods for information gathering, discussions, guiding the process down the page in the apendix: One I found particularly inspiring was called – “The pause” :D

The Pause
This method comes from the Arca movement. It is the best exercise when emotions are running high and people are at an impasse. The group View full article »

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UNESCO Seville Statement on Violence

Filed Under: Antimilitarism, Materials, Nonviolence by Georg — Leave a comment
September 17, 2010

Something I found very useful for discussing about nonviolence is the statement made by nineteen scientists from all around the globe in 1989. While partly being criticized for being moralistic, it is a source of inspiration and hope, to overcome the belief, that mankind is doomed biologically to wage wars and kill each other and this planet. I will go through the text and make some personal comments and remarks :) Feel free, to write comments as well!

IT IS SCIENTIFICALLY INCORRECT to say that we have inherited a tendency to make war from our animal ancestors. Although fighting occurs widely throughout animal species, only a few cases of destructive intra-species fighting between organized groups have ever been reported among naturally living species, and none of these involve the use of tools designed to be weapons. Normal predatory feeding upon other species cannot be equated with intra-species violence. Warfare is a peculiarly human phenomenon and does not occur in other animals.

The fact that warfare has changed so radically overtime indicates that it is a product of culture. Its biological connection is primarily through language which makes possible the co-ordination of groups, the transmission of technology, and the use of tools. War is biologically possible, but it is not inevitable, as evidenced by its variation in occurrence and nature over time and space. There are cultures which have not engaged in war for centuries, and there are cultures which have engaged in war frequently at some times and not at others.

As the authors note, there have been observations of ape-species groups killing each other but that

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I am scared now…

Filed Under: Antimilitarism, Nonviolence by Georg — Leave a comment
September 11, 2010

The U.S. Army continues their trend of scaring me by inventions nobody would ever like to see used by soldiers / military:

“Here, we will continue exploring the influence of ultrasound on brain function and begin using transducer phased arrays to examine the influence of focused ultrasound on intact brain circuits.”

What they are describing is a system to manipulate the brain by which they hope to ‘enhance’ their “nation’s Warfighters with strategic advantages”. They basically want to manipulate feelings of pain, anxiety and behavior (however they are going to do that) and thus again remove a layer of humanity from soldiers / murderers. Of course, if anxiety could

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Organic food is peaceful food

Filed Under: Sustainability by Georg — Leave a comment
September 8, 2010

Here something slightly different from normal and I will shortly explain what it has to do with peace…

As you all heard, global warming is already upon as, leading to more natural disasters, among them droughts. This can be seen already on all continents and threatens among other the production of food and by that also the ability of local population to nourish itself.

Companies for gene-manipulating food now have announced to have the answer – they rely mostly on using tons of chemicals for keeping the fields free from weed (which means, the View full article »

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Ecology and Peace

Filed Under: Antimilitarism, Materials by Georg — Leave a comment
September 7, 2010

Here a paper I found today while searching for science on the links between ecology / sustainability and peace. Written by Jon Barnett,  associated Professor at Melbourne University, his abstract already sounds quite promising but the following quote makes it really tangible:

“There are arguably few greater problems facing the world today than those of direct and structural violence—processes that kill over 700,000 and 10,000,000 people each year respectively (based on data from WHO 2002), and there are arguably few greater risks to the world and its most marginalised people than environmental change.” (p. 9)
They even go on to talk a bit about violence and peace: View full article »
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